Auld Lang Syne
by silver chipmunk
Summary: A New Years Eve vacation for the boys. A light slashy holiday romp.


This was my Secret Santa story for Cynatnite on the Me and Thee list on Yahoo. Cyn asked for something that was slash. So here's something light and fluffy and slashy for the holidays.

I don't own Starsky and Hutch, and I'm not writing this for profit.

* * *

Auld Lang Syne

New Years Eve, Hutch had unilaterally decreed, was going to be for them, them alone. They had spent every holiday this fall and winter with a constant stream of family and friends all wanting to see for themselves that Starsky was really alive and recovering from the shooting that spring. And that was all well and good, but they needed some holiday to have for themselves, to celebrate their expanded relationship.

They spent both of the High Holy Days, back in September, with Starsky's Aunt Rose and Uncle Al, and a whole swarm of Starsky cousins. Starsky didn't generally celebrate the more religious holidays, but this year he had felt the need to see his family, and the holidays had been a convenient excuse, so they drove down first for Rosh Hashanah, then again a week later for Yom Kippur.

Hutch was fairly nervous that first day. Starsky had told his mother and brother about the change in his relationship with Hutch only a month or so before, expecting the news to rapidly spread to all parts of his large extended family, and Hutch was less than sure what sort of reception to expect.

However, he needn't have worried. Possibly because they were just relieved to have Starsky still alive, everyone had been polite and friendly in the extreme. There were a few tense moments when one of the younger generation of cousins had made a joke that could, under the circumstances, have been construed as very tasteless, but the boy's mother elbowed him sharply, the boy muttered something that sounded vaguely like "oops, sorry", and Uncle Al quickly changed the subject to the chances of the Minnesota Vikings making the Superbowl. All in all, Starsky said later, it was a reasonably successful first outing. Hutch winced at the pun.

They spent Thanksgiving Day with the Dobeys. They hadn't come out to Dobey yet, but Hutch wondered if he didn't suspect something anyway. Lately he always seemed to have a faintly worried air when he looked at the two of them together. Still, they had a good time, and Edith's cooking was wonderful as always. Starsky ate copiously. Hutch teased him unmercifully about it, though secretly he was pleased. He felt Starsky had lost far too much weight during the hospitalization and his recovery.

He was even more pleased when Starsky continued over-eating that night at The Pits, where they'd gone after leaving the Dobey's, for Huggy's Thanksgiving evening party. They stayed late, and Hutch worried about Starsky tiring himself out. Starsky said he wasn't that tired, and would prove it when they finally went home. He did, and it was Hutch who ended up being too stiff to move comfortably the next day. "Told you so" Starsky smirked.

The first night of Hanukkah fell on a Friday, so they took a long weekend and flew to New York City to see Starsky's mother and brother Nick, and still more Starsky relatives. That really worried Hutch. But Mrs. Starsky had treated them just as she would have if her son had brought home a girl. "Truthfully, Ken, dear" she said, sighing, "I stopped expecting grandchildren from David when you called me and asked what his favorite meal was, and I gave you the pot roast recipe." Nick was more hostile, clearly blaming Hutch for his brother "going gay". But Starsky and his mother kept him in check, and for their sakes, Nick and Hutch declared an uneasy truce.

Starsky found something intimidating about being in the bed in his mother's spare room, however. "Honestly, Hutch" he whispered the first night, "Did you and Vanessa ever get it on in your parents' house?" Hutch had to admit that they hadn't. He was glad when they finally got home, and vowed the next time they went to New York they'd get a motel room.

Christmas Eve was spent with Kiko and Molly, and their mother, and they exchanged gifts there. Hutch knew he had gone slightly overboard on Starsky's presents, but he couldn't resist. So Starsky ended up with new cars for his train set (the set itself lovingly laid out around the Christmas tree back in the house they were renting for the duration of Starsky's recovery), a new ship model to put together, a replacement leather jacket for the one ruined in the shooting, and a few other goodies. Starsky had been a bit more restrained, but even so Hutch felt slightly overwhelmed by the pile he ended up with, especially when Starsky whispered "There's something else back at home, too, Babe" when no one was watching.

On the way back they stopped at the park and stood under the tree that Hutch had had planted in Starsky's name a couple of years before. It had grown quite a bit from the spindly sapling it had been then. Hutch was a little embarrassed about the tree. In retrospect it seemed like a mean thing to have done, and when he thought about all the times he had so nearly lost Starsky, it felt like any chance he'd had to make him happy and hadn't was something to be regretted. But Starsky gently pushed his back against the trunk and stopped his guilt-ridden speech with a devastating kiss.

"I love this tree, Hutch" he said when they could talk again. "I figured it out. You gave me something you would have liked yourself. Just a bigger green leafy thing than could fit in the house, that's all."

He kissed Hutch again before he could protest, and took him back home to open his present that couldn't be opened in front of the kids. "Chocolate body paint?" Hutch asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Two great tastes that taste great together" Starsky leering and wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"I am not a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup" Hutch huffed.

"Nope, you taste better." Starsky told him, and took him to bed and showed him just how much better he thought Hutch tasted.

Christmas Day was exhausting, especially after having been up to late the night before. They had received so many invitations that they couldn't do them all, and rather than having to decide who to see, they were having an open house and inviting everyone they knew to drop by some time during the day.

Allison May, or Laura, as Starsky still thought of her, was the first to come over. It was her first Christmas since the death of her father, and she was glad to be able to at least spend it with an old friend. She had told Starsky right after they had found each other again that she didn't want anything from him but friendship, and the same for Hutch, and she had been only congratulatory when they told her they had become lovers.

"It's like old times again being with you for Christmas, David" she said.

"That's why I've always loved Christmas so much" Starsky explained to Hutch. "When we were kids, Laura came to my house for Hanukkah and I went to hers for Christmas."

After her at various times during the day there were Huggy and the Dobeys and Linda Baylor, and Minnie Kaplan, and Simmons and Babcock, and Sally Hagen, and Liz Thorpe with her family, from the department. RC and Larry, the deaf printers came by, as did Hutch's old friend Nancy with her mother, (still half heartedly trying to get Starsky to convert), Anton Rusz, along with Milt Kogan and a few of the girls who had nowhere else to go on Christmas, Sammy Grovner and his now-wife Robin, Molly, Kiko and their mother, on and on, it seemed as though their list of visitors was endless.

By the time everyone had finally left, Hutch was exhausted and Starsky was frankly near collapse. Hutch muttered curses on himself for allowing Starsky to overdo things, and as he looked back over the list of holidays past, that was when he decided that New Years was going to be for them only, and just for relaxing.

Certainly they deserved the time alone, he felt. Even Halloween, when he thought about it, had been spent with others. Molly, now in her first year of high school, was on the Homecoming committee. She had begged Starsky and Hutch to come and be chaperones for the Halloween Homecoming dance.

It had actually not been as bad as Hutch expected, once they had reached an agreement on their costumes. That had almost turned into an argument, with Starsky wanting them to go as a matched pair of... something, and Hutch wanting costumes as close to normal clothing as possible. ("We can go as undercover cops, Starsk. What's wrong with that?" he had asked. "You are just a wet blanket." Starsky had groused.)

It was Huggy who had come up with the solution. They had gone as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The result was close enough to their daily clothes that Hutch felt comfortable, but obviously enough paired costumes to satisfy Starsky. ("At least the mustache fits. But you're better looking than Redford, Hutch" Starsky had said.) They had spent most of the evening guarding the punch bowl to make sure it wasn't spiked, and watching the kids.

There had been one rather odd moment that stayed with Hutch. Two older girls, seniors probably, had come over to the punch bowl and sized them up. One was dressed in silver hot pants and shirt, silver boots, with a pair of wire antennae on her head. Her skin was dyed green, and she was carrying a toy ray gun. The other was wearing a Greek chiton, with a crescent moon on a headband. The two girls giggled together. "Butch and Sundance, huh?" the green girl asked. "Good buddy movie." She smiled knowingly.

Starsky smiled his most ingratiating smile. "Yeah. And who are you young ladies?"

"Well, I'm Mary Sue, and I'm obviously a little green alien from outer space" said the green girl.

"And I'm Cynthia, the Goddess of the moon" added the girl in the chiton.

"You read Greek mythology then?" Hutch had put in.

The two girls had laughed again. "We love guys who know Greek." the green alien had said, and winked, making a slashing motion with her hand. Then the girls had wandered away, still giggling.

"Hutch" Starsky asked in a puzzled tone, "What was that all about?"

Hutch shook his head, bewildered. Later they had asked Molly about the two girls. "Oh them" she said. "They write strange stories about Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock." She laughed, but wouldn't explain any further.

But now, after Christmas, Hutch decided enough was enough. It was time for them to have a trip away, just for them. New Years Eve fell on a Monday. Hutch had argued with Captain Dobey until he'd managed to get the whole weekend as well as New Years Eve and day off.

"Captain, Starsky really needs this time away." Hutch pointed out. "We haven't had any time just to relax in months. It's too much for him in his condition. He's still not fully recovered."

"So you want to take him skiing?" Dobey yelled. "You'll bring him back with a broken leg! Or worse!"

"Now, Captain." Hutch soothed. "I doubt Starsky's even going to hit the slopes. He'll just soak in the Jacuzzi, and dance in the disco at night. Pick up girls" he added unwillingly. He didn't like lying to Dobey.

"Pick up girls, huh?" Dobey said, with a dubious expression, and that faintly worried air again. But eventually he gave in, and finally the two were off on their holiday.

They traveled up Saturday morning. It was one of the smaller, lesser-known ski resorts, and Hutch was hoping it wouldn't be as crowded as the larger ones.

"At midnight on New Years Eve there's a fireworks display" the desk clerk told them. "You should have a good view from the balcony of your room."

"Ya' hear that, Hutch?" Starsky asked in delight. "Fireworks!"

"Pointless bombastic exhibit" Hutch harrumphed, but inside his soul sang at the chance to let Starsky indulge some of his little-boy delight in things that lit up and went "boom".

Their room was cozy, and even had a fireplace. Of course they'd asked for a double, so they had two beds. "Nothing wrong with that" Starsky leered. "We can mess one up, and then move to the other." They also had a mini refrigerator and table. "Hey, we can get snacks and stuff for New Years Eve and keep 'em cold!" he pointed out in glee.

They unpacked. "Now what do you want to do?" Hutch asked.

Starsky smiled from where he was sitting on one of the beds. "It was a long trip up, Hutch. Maybe we need some rest in one of these nice comfy beds." He pulled Hutch down next to him.

"Your incorrigible" Hutch murmured, not resisting.

"Only when you 'encorrige' me." Starsky chuckled in his ear, and after that there was no talking for a long time, just soft happy moans and sighs.

Afterwards Starsky prowled around the room, exploring, while Hutch languidly relaxed on the bed. "What do you want to do now?" he asked. "It's too late to actually hit the slopes today."

Starsky was studying the brochure that he had found on the bureau.

"Hey! They have an ice rink, and they rent skates!" Starsky exclaimed in delight. "Let's go skating!"

"I didn't know you liked skating that much, Starsk." Hutch said as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Sure." Starsky grinned in reminiscence. "I grew up a nice easy bus ride from an ice rink. It was a great place to take a girl on a first date. 'Specially if she didn't know how to skate."

"Why particularly if she didn't know how to?"

"Because it gave you a great excuse to put your arms around her. You had to show her how to do it, right?" Starsky laughed. "I think some of 'em pretended not to know how just for that reason. What about you, Hutch, you skate, right?"

"Starsk, I grew up in Minnesota, where man are men, women bake coffee cakes, and kids play hockey. Of course I can skate." He gave Starsky a sideways look. "Although it has been years. Maybe you'll have to help me remember how."

They cleaned up and went down to the rink. Starsky on skates was a thing of beauty. He skated like he danced, and the admiring gazes of most of the women there (and, Hutch noticed wryly, a few other men, too) followed him. And Starsky ate it up. There was no point in being jealous, Hutch knew. Starsky had never cheated on a lover in all the years Hutch had known him. He wasn't going home with anyone else but him that night, so let the little flirt have his fun.

Hutch spent some time on the ice. But his skating had always been more utilitarian than decorative, and it had been a long time since he'd been on skates, so he didn't have to fake too hard to be clumsy enough to need Starsky to guide him around a few times. And although it was nice having Starsky's arms around him, Hutch found nearly as much pleasure just in watching him have a good time. So for the most part he sat on the sidelines, sipping hot chocolate.

Finally Starsky glided to a stop opposite Hutch. "OK girls, time for me to go in" he said to the two beauties who were hanging on to his arms. "Maybe I'll see ya' later." The two girls waved good-bye and skated off, and Starsky made his way to Hutch's table. "You ready to go to dinner, Babe?" he asked.

"You done skating?" Hutch asked. Starsky nodded. "OK, then, lets go. You want to have dinner in the restaurant, or order up room service?"

"Room service' Starsky said with a grin. "Then we have another whole bed to try out."

But the grin was only camouflaging a deeper exhaustion. It would be a long time still, if ever, before Starsky regained the stamina he'd had before the shooting, and by the time dinner was delivered, the only way he wanted to try out the other bed was for its intended use. As soon as dinner was eaten, he pretty much collapsed, only having enough energy to pull off his clothes. Hutch looked at the sleeping man affectionately. Starsky looked like a little boy tired out from a hard day of play. He cleared up the dinner dishes and put them outside the door, put out the lights and curled up next to him, pulling the soundly sleeping form close.

By the next morning though, Starsky had gotten back his energy. Unfortunately the weather had turned nasty.

"We could go into the town" Starsky suggested.

"Town?" Hutch asked. The town the resort was attached to was about a 15-minute drive down the mountain.

"Yeah, it looked like there were a few interesting places when we drove through. And a movie theater. Maybe they're showing something good."

Hutch shrugged. "If that's what you want to do, Buddy, that's what we do." This trip had been for Starsky, after all. He mused on the thought that, not so very long ago, although they might have taken this trip together, they would have spent a good proportion of their time hanging in the lounge by the fire with the other guests, trying to get lucky picking up girls. This was better, Hutch thought. "Already got lucky" he murmured to himself.

The town didn't have very much, but it did have a used bookstore. They spent over an hour browsing through the shelves, and they both ended up with stacks of books. Hutch picked up some poetry, cookbooks, and a few gardening books. Starsky went for old science fiction, some folklore and mythology, and a few books of trivia and fun facts that he'd found.

To Starsky's delight, they found that the town boasted a small Mexican restaurant. Always happy now to see Starsky willing to eat, Hutch consented to burritos for lunch.

After they ate, Starsky pointed to the small grocery store.

"We were gonna' get some snack stuff for tomorrow night, right?"

So they picked up some chips and vegetables for dips, and a few other items.

"Herring in wine sauce, Starsk?"

"My Pop said you have to start the new year with it or it's bad luck. You didn't know that, Hutch?" Hutch shook his head.

"No wonder your luck's always been so rotten" Starsky said, smiling. "This time we'll get the year started right."

Hutch laughed and ruffled Starsky's hair. "Starsk, just before we came into town I was thinking how I finally got lucky. I don't need pickled fish to make me luckier now."

Starsky grinned, but all he said was "Then try it just for the taste."

They left the food in the car along with the books, and went over to the movie theater, where they discovered, to Starsky's delight, that Alien was playing. He had missed its initial release while he was still in the hospital.

"You know" he whispered to Hutch while they were buying their tickets, "That was my favorite thing to do for a second date. A nice scary movie."

Hutch laughed. "Well I don't have to ask why about that. Sitting in the back row and cuddling at the frightening parts, huh?"

"Yup. So..." Starsky grinned ingratiatingly. "Wanna' sit in the back row with me?"

"Starsk... we do have to be careful." It was a sad but true fact that behavior that would have been completely ignored between a man and woman could easily get them arrested for public indecency.

"You worry too much, Schweetheart" Starsky said with a wink.

They found the theater practically empty, and settled in the back row, where they were totally alone.

Despite his insinuation, however, when the movie started, it was Hutch, not Starsky who made the first move, sliding his arm along the back of the seat. Starsky snuggled up, but batted Hutch's hands away when he started groping down his shirt.

"Ma warned me there'd be boys like you" he whispered.

"Did she really?" Hutch asked with interest.

"Well, no, actually she warned me not to be a boy like that myself. But that's beside the point. I wanna' watch the movie!"

Hutch laughed and backed off for the moment, but during the movie he couldn't resist pressing up against Starsky, running his hands over him, occasionally sneaking a kiss. By the time the credits came on, Starsky was flushed, and rock-hard in his jeans. Hutch loved Starsky's hyper-responsiveness, the way that as little as a look, or a touch, could bring him to full arousal. It had nothing to do with him, he knew, Starsky had always been that way, long before they were lovers, but it certainly worked to Hutch's advantage now.

In unspoken agreement and understanding, they headed back to the car, and made good time on the drive back to the lodge. They only managed to make it into the room, before Starsky had Hutch pressed up against the door, pulling his clothes off in frantic haste. Starsky had lost strength and muscle tone after the shooting, but physical therapy and rehabilitation had done wonders towards bringing him back, and now he was again close to an even match for Hutch.

"You made me miss part of the movie, Hutch" Starsky mock-complained as he pushed Hutch over to the bed and down onto the mattress. "You'd better have some way of making it up to me."

"I think I can come up with something" Hutch purred, and took the next few hours showing him exactly how.

"Let's eat dinner in the restaurant, Hutch." Starsky said afterwards. "If we stay up here, we'll just start over again, and I don't think I have the strength. You've worn me out, partner. I need a good steak dinner to get my energy back."

Hutch laughed, and stretched languorously. "I think you did pretty good job of wearing me out too, Starsk. A nice protein-filled meal should just hit the spot."

As they sat in the restaurant, for the second time that day Hutch mused on how different this was than the way a similar trip would have been a year or so before. For so long he and Starsky had almost missed what was right in front of them, it had taken almost losing Starsky to make them see where their hearts really were. He held Starsky tighter than usual in bed that night, and spent a long time lying awake just listening to his heart.

The next day, New Years Eve, dawned bright and clear. Starsky bounced out of bed.

"Let's go skiing, Hutch!"

Hutch poked his head out from under the covers and opened one eye. "Skiing? You? Have you ever skied?"

"Well, no, but you have, haven't you? You can show me how!"

"Starsk, I haven't skied for as long as I haven't skated, and you see how well I did with that! Besides, I almost promised Dobey that you wouldn't be skiing. He was afraid I'd bring you home broken."

"Dobey doesn't need to know everything" Starsky pointed out. "And we can take the bunny trails. Come on, Hutch, I wanna' at least try it out since we're here."

Hutch sighed and dragged himself up. "If anything happens, Starsk, I'm making it plain to Dobey it was all your idea."

But nothing bad did happen. They stayed on the beginner's trails, but they could have advanced further. Starsky was a natural on skis. They spent the entire day on the slopes

"We should do this again" Starsky said, as they made their way back to the lodge. "This was great!"

"I never took you for that much of an outdoors boy, Starsk." Hutch said.

Starsky laughed. "But this is speed, Hutch!"

Hutch realized then he should have guessed it would be like this. Starsky skied the same way he drove, or skated, or danced. For that matter, the same way he made love, fast, furious and maneuverable.

"So what do you want to do for New Years Eve, Starsk? The big party is in the disco."

Starsky shook his head. "I wanna' see in 1980 alone with you Babe. Then watch the fireworks from our room." But even as he said it, he was giving a longing look towards the door of the disco.

"It's OK, Starsk, we can go there first if you want. Then go up to our room just before zero hour."

Starsky shook his head sadly. "But I can't dance with you publicly, so what's the point?"

Hutch laughed. "You just love dancing, partner, you know it. Just like at the skate rink, you'll find some foxy lady to dance with, and I'll sit and watch and have the last laugh 'cause I know you're going home with me and not her."

Starsky wavered. "You mean it? You won't mind?"

"I love just watching you have a good time. I mean it, Starsk."

He did mean it. There was nothing like watching Starsky move on the dance floor, the ease of his body, fluid and graceful again after the months of weakness and debility. How, he wondered, had he gone for so long just watching, not being able to hold, to possess, that beauty? Why had it taken them so many years? He knew if he asked Starsky, he would just laugh and kiss him, and say "Who cares? We're here now."

The dance floor was loud and crowded, and Starsky was soon hot and sweaty. Hutch found himself getting aroused just watching him, thinking about how that dark, warm, moist body would feel in his arms, against his body. Starsky knew he was watching, and played up to him, never going to far away no matter who he was dancing with.

Hutch danced a few times too, though not more than once with the same girl. He didn't want to lead anyone on, and none of them were interested in him solely for his limited dancing ability, unlike Starsky, who had girls lining up just for that alone.

At 11:30, Starsky snagged two of the paper hats that had been provided, and two noisemakers. "Come on, Hutch, lets head back to our room."

"Funny hats, Starsk?" Hutch asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Starsky said pugnaciously. "And you're gonna' wear it, too, partner. And you're gonna' rattle that rattle thing. 'Cause this is New Year's Eve."

"OK, OK, far be it from me to disrupt your sense of the true meaning of New Years, Starsk" Hutch laughed. " Funny hats and noisemakers it is."

Back in their room, they ordered a bottle of champagne from room service, and got out the food they had bought the day before.

"You looked pretty good on the dance floor, partner." Hutch said.

Starsky smiled wistfully. "Wish I could dance with you, though, Hutch."

"There's places we can go and dance, Starsk. If you really want to."

"What, a gay bar? Like the Green Parrot?" Starsky smiled. "Sugar would love to see you there. I think she, uh, he... well whatever, was quite taken with you."

"Not my type, Starsk." Hutch laughed. "But seriously, would you want to go to the Parrot or some place like that to dance?"

"Maybe" Starsky shrugged. "I don't want to think about it now. What I want to do now is dance with you here." He turned on the bedside radio. "Gotta' be some good music on somewhere, and I bet they do a countdown to midnight, too."

A slow waltz played. Starsky took Hutch in his arms.

Hutch settled in against him, leaning his head on his shoulder. "Did you ever wonder what would have happened if we'd never met?" he asked. He couldn't imagine it himself. The idea that he could even have a life without Starsky beside him had somewhere along the line, faded away.

"Nope." Starsky said emphatically, brushing his lips across Hutch's hair for emphasis. "Wouldn't have happened. We'd have met no matter what. It was fate or destiny or somthin'."

"You think so? What if you'd never come to California, if your mom had kept you in New York and sent Nick here instead?"

"Then I would have ended up running with the same crowd like Nicky did, and then I would have gone to California, and you would have arrested me, and reformed me." Starsky said seriously.

"All right, what if I'd gone to law school, like my parents wanted?"

Starsky laughed. "That's easy. I know you, Hutch. You'd have been a crusading District Attorney, and we'd have been working together to put away the bad guys."

Hutch pulled back slightly and looked at Starsky. "You really mean it, don't you? No matter what we did, you think we would have found each other."

Starsky nodded. "Seriously, yes, I do. Maybe not like this, Hutch. Maybe in another life, you'd have worked things out with Van, or maybe..." He swallowed. "Maybe Terry wouldn't have died. And we wouldn't be lovers. But together, always. I don't think there could be a world where we weren't together somehow."

Hutch leaned back against Starsky's shoulder. "It's nice to think so. "

"Remember when we met?"

Hutch nodded. "Long time ago now. After class, in that bar near the academy."

"I had noticed you in class that day, you know. You made some really good answer to somethin' the teacher said, I don't even remember what anymore, but I wanted to talk to you about it afterwards."

"You did?" Hutch said, surprised.

"Uh huh. But you rushed out so quick afterwards, I couldn't get to you."

"I'm sorry, Babe. I had to call Van about something." Hutch laughed. "I remember because we had a fight on the phone, so I didn't go home that evening. That's why I was in that bar, I didn't want to go home."

"You never told me that." Starsky said. "All I knew was, I'd wanted to talk to you, and then, there you were. I looked at you across that smoky room, and I thought 'hey, there he is'. And our eyes met, and you came over to me. And I knew right then, Hutch, that we were gonna' be friends, gonna' be something special."

"That far back?"

"That far back" Starsky affirmed.

"Yeah, I guess I kinda' knew too." Hutch nodded.

For a few more minutes they danced, silent, just feeling each other's presence. Then the music stopped, and the announcer started the countdown.

"Hutch! Come on, get ready!"

"OK, OK" They moved out to the balcony. As the countdown reached zero, Starsky pulled him into an enthusiastic kiss.

"Happy New Years, Babe" he whispered.

"Happy New Years, Starsk" Hutch replied. The whole of the resort around them broke into cheers and noise, and as Starsky stared enraptured, the fireworks display lit up the night.

Afterwards, Starsky fed him pickled herring. It was better than he expected. They blew and rattled their noisemakers some more, and opened the champagne, and the radio station started playing "Auld Lang Syne".

"Hey, what does that mean, anyway?" Starsky asked.

"What, Auld Lang Syne? Well, it's Scot's dialect, it means something like 'old times gone', or something like that."

"Huh. Seems like a funny thing to sing about on New Years Eve, when it's all about the future."

"Not so strange. We were just talking about times long gone. People reflect back, on New Year's."

"I guess so. Where's it come from, anyway?"

"It's from a poem by Robert Burns. I think it actually is about two old friends. Wait" Hutch suddenly thought, "I think it's in one of those books of poetry I bought the other day." He quickly flipped through them. "Yeah, I thought so, here it is."

He scanned it over quickly. "I guess it's actually about two old friends meeting again after a long time apart, but they're still friends for all that."

"Not quite us, then."

"No. But this last stanza, that could be." Hutch softly read:

"And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!  
And gies a hand o' thine!  
And we'll tak a right gude-willie-waught,  
for auld lang syne."

It means

"And here's a hand, my trusty friend,  
And give us a hand of thine.  
And we'll take a right good-will drink,  
For old times gone."

Starsky poured a glass of the champagne and handed it to Hutch. Then reached out his hand. "OK partner. For auld lang syne, Babe. For auld lang syne."

* * *

Authors note: No, I am not named Mary Sue. But on Halloween, 1979, when I was a high school senior, I did wear silver hot pants and boots, and dye myself green to be an alien for the Homecoming Halloween dance.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the little green alien.


End file.
